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NAVSEA Issues Draft RFP For Submarine-Launched 'Snakehead' LDUUV
A surrogate Large Displacement Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (LDUUV) is submerged in the water in preparation for a test to demonstrate the capability of the Navy’s Common Control System (CCS) at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Keyport in Puget Sound, Wash. in December 2015. US Navy Photo.

U.S. Navy christens first Snakehead LDUUV prototype

A U.S. Navy team led by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport and the Program Executive Office for Unmanned and Small Combatants (PEO USC) conducted a vehicle christening for the first Snakehead Large Displacement Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (LDUUV) prototype Feb. 2 at the Narragansett Bay Test Facility in Newport, RI.

Xavier Vavasseur 14 Feb 2022

NAVSEA press release
This story was update with actual pictures of the Snakehead LDUUV (see bottom of the page)

Snakehead is a modular, reconfigurable, multi-mission LDUUV deployed from submarine large ocean interfaces. It is equipped with a government-owned architecture, mission autonomy capabilities and vehicle software, employing innovation in the areas of hull materials and lithium-ion battery certification. Deployed from a submarine dry deck shelter, Snakehead provides guidance and control, navigation, situational awareness, propulsion, maneuvering and sensors in support of undersea missions.

The Navy continues to invest in a family of unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) to meet the mission requirements for maintaining undersea domain superiority. Snakehead is the Navy’s largest submarine-launched UUV, providing increased endurance, depth capability, and payload capacity beyond small and medium UUVs.

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Naval News comments:

The Applied Research Lab/Penn State Large Training Vehicle (LTV) 38 is a test platform for the Large Displacement Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (LDUUV) for Rapid Prototyping and Experimentation (RAPx) of Unmanned Systems in 2021. U.S. Navy photo.

NAVSEA issued a draft request for proposal (RFP) for the Snakehead LDUUV in October 2020.

As previously announced, General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) won a contract award to develop and demonstrate a prototype Lithium-ion Fault Tolerant LiFT battery system for the LDUUV prototype.

The ‘Snakehead’ LDUUV will equip the Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) and provide Intelligence and Preparation of the Environment (IPOE) and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities. Naval News understands that the LDUUV is likely to be deployed from submarines as well. If that was confirmed, the LDUUV would be deployed from the Dry Deck Shelters (DDS) typically used for Swimmer Delivery Vehicles (SDV) since the Snakehead’s large diameter won’t fit in a standard torpedo tube (533 mm).

Official NAVSEA illustration for the Snakehead LDUUV
Slide from NAVSEA PMS 406 Unmanned Maritime Systems briefing at SNA 2022

Update 02/17/2022

The U.S. Navy has released for the first time images showing the LDUUV:

Snakehead Large Diameter Unmanned Underwater Vehicle
NEWPORT, R.I. – Snakehead is a modular, reconfigurable, multi-mission underwater vehicle deployed from submarine large ocean interfaces, with a government-owned architecture, mission autonomy and vehicle software. Prior to a christening held at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport on Feb. 2, 2022, the underwater vehicle was loaded in Narragansett Bay in Newport, Rhode Island.
Snakehead Large Diameter Unmanned Underwater Vehicle
NEWPORT, R.I. – Cheryl Mierzwa, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport’s technical program manager for the Snakehead Large Displacement Unmanned Undersea Vehicle, christens the underwater vehicle at the Narragansett Bay Test Facility in Newport, Rhode Island, on Feb. 2, 2022. Snakehead is a modular, reconfigurable, multi-mission underwater vehicle that can be deployed from a submarine.
Snakehead Large Diameter Unmanned Underwater Vehicle
NEWPORT, R.I. – Attending the christening of the Snakehead Large Displacement Unmanned Undersea Vehicle are Capt. Djueno Scot Searles (from left), major program manager, Unmanned Maritime Systems (PMS 406); Adam Outlaw, head, Subsea and Seabed Warfare Branch, Chief of Naval Operations Director of Undersea Warfare; Dorothy Engelhardt, director of Unmanned Systems at Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Ship Programs; Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport Technical Director Ron Vien and Commanding Officer Capt. Chad F. Hennings; Capt. Peter Small, program manager for Unmanned Maritime Systems (PMS 406); and Chris DelMastro, head, Division Newport’s Undersea Warfare Platforms and Payload Integration Department. Snakehead was christened at the Narragansett Bay Test Facility in Newport, Rhode Island, on Feb. 2, 2022.
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